Friday, June 29, 2007

I am so glad that I can finally like Paul McCartney again. He and I, well, we were kinda on the outs. I've been mad at him ever since he married her. But now that they've split up I've been able to forgive him, to some degree. And the single from his new album helps me forgive him even more, because he certainly seems to be in fine form. I saw the iTunes video while blog surfing, which made me want to see the original video, shot by Michel Gondry. It's so nice to be friends again.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Okay, three posts in one day might be a bit much. And three posts in less than 12 hours definitely might be overkill. Nevertheless, I couldn't let the day go by without informing everyone that tonight is the return of one of my favorite shows. I L-O-V-E History Detectives! If you haven't seen or heard of this show before, it's sort of Antiques Roadshow meets Sherlock Holmes. People ask the History Detectives to help verify stories and authenticate items that may have historical importance. I've seen them cover all sorts of things- from paintings, deeds, and stocks to a cannon and even an entire house. This show comes on PBS, a rich source of quality television. Obviously, not everyone's local affiliate runs the same schedule, so check your local PBS station to see if they will be airing it. Trust me, it's well worth the watch!

P.S.- You might even recognize some of the investigators as appraisers from Antiques Roadshow!

Stephanie and I went shopping Sunday afternoon. We used to go shopping all the time, but both of us becoming old married ladies and she being a super-mommy definitely decreased the frequency of our trips. And we had been trying to go for several weeks, with life just getting in the way. But we gave life a shove so we could get together. And despite Stephanie's annoyance at how long it takes me to change, we had a great time and I got a ton of stuff. But, let it be known that she bares some of the responsibility, because she always picks out a ton of stuff for me to try on, ha. Of course, the things I want to show you most can not be found on Forever 21's site.

What did I walk away with?-Strapless bubble dress in a great bold black & white floral-Cute short sleeve three-button swing jacket in red-Summery spaghetti strap top in yellow with tiny white polka dots-Black sweater/shirt combo that's great for work-Fun skirt that can transition well to autumn in this mod print-Comfy and stylish bermuda/crop bottoms in a brown plaidAnd I was actually able to find pics of the rest:

Friday:-Finish work on Stephanie'sbanners-Tidy house-Chomp on Chipotle with Josh-Get cleaned up-Head to Dancing With The Stars Live-Have the super best time and scream for my favorite ballroom & celebrity dancers like the huge nerd I am-Head home and hang out with Spencer for a bit-Sleepy-sleep

Saturday:-Get trim & brows done-Grab donuts, mmmm-Work on closet organization-Goof off on laptop and play Sims while Josh played video games-Hit Half Price Books for birthday gifts-Hang at Justin's for his birthday-Head home and catch the tail end of Graham Norton-Golden Slumbers

Sunday:-Go shopping with Steph-Vacuum and tidy up-Sis came over after settling in at University of Dallas for teaching workshop-Dine on delicious Ocean Rock, while annoyed by biting mosquitos at my feet-Play Sims while Josh plays video games-Hit the hay-Never fall asleep thanks to headache

Monday Morning:-Call to catch ride with mom so I can get some extra sleep-Have crazy dream that after all my shopping Stacy London criticized everything I was wearing-Come to work despite the contrary advice from my still pounding head

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Okay, I think even she might say that's a slight exaggeration, but it is honestly true in my opinion. I have never looked so good in a photograph as I did in our wedding pictures. Obviously it helped to have my fabulous friend Ashley do my make-up, and I owe a shout-out to my dermatologist, Dr. Hyman (yes, that's his name). But for reals, Carissa Byers is the super best photographer to have at your side on your wedding day. And her then-assistant Allison was no slouch either. First and foremost she wasn't super-duper mad when traffic caused us to be an hour late for our first meeting. Within the first 5 minutes I met her cute son and pets, all with Beatles inspired names, spotted a Dan Brown book, and discovered a shared love of Scrabble. I knew it was kismet. And on the big day she couldn't have been nicer or easier to work with. I don't think I can count on one hand the number of times I exclaimed my love for her that day as she would show me great shots she had just captured. I've gotten so many compliments on our wedding pictures. It was almost my favorite part of my sister's wedding a few months ago. If going to other people's weddings means we get to talk about how great ours was, then by all means send some invitations my way. ;)

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

So, our trip to Blue River in Oklahoma was pretty much a success. Even though we didn't stay the night we had a lot of fun spending some quality time with Josh's dad. It rained almost the entire way there, which had me worrying about what weather we'd face once we got to the campgrounds. However, it stopped about 20 or 30 minutes away from our destination and the two tiny outbreaks of sprinkles we had while there put no damper on our fun. We got there just in time to save John from his lunch of freezer-burned hot dogs. We immediately got everything out and went to work cooking the sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches I had brought with us. After our lunch we went on a small hike to see all the wildflowers in bloom. I'm such a city girl, so luckily John pointed out the poison ivy and bull nettle plants so I could avoid them. And I got a good laugh in when he wandered right into a spider's web and it was all stuck in his beard. :)

After our hike we went back to hi camp and while John napped a bit Josh read and I studied a lovely butterfly that was wandering it's way around in the dirt. Josh and I strolled up to the river crossover to put our feet in the water and enjoy the scenery. When we went back John was up and starting to clean the catfish he had caught that morning. I started to prep some of the stuff I had brought to accompany the fish. We had the most delicious dinner! I know that I already raved about it over at Small Time Cooks, but honestly it was just so good I could go on and on about it. We had the wonderful fish that John had caught, along with some yellow squash, bell pepper, and coleslaw- all garnered from his home garden. I brought potatoes and ears of corn to cook on the grill. Everything was so fresh and flavorful, and we sat around eating it all and talking about just how good it was. After dinner we decided to go back up to the river and we sat with our legs in the water while John did a little more fishing. Once we were sufficiently cooled, we went back and had dessert, strawberry shortcake. We spent a little more time chatting, and watching the lightening bugs. I hadn't seen lightening bugs since I was probably 10 or so, and it was almost magical to see the woods filled with them. We packed everything up and headed back home, having created a great Father's Day experience.

Unfortunately we also brought home a tick. Blech. We didn't figure it out till I spotted the tiny bugger on Josh, after we both had several mysterious bites. I got him, and we haven't had any mysterious bites since, so we believe he was the only one. I say mysterious bites because I did manage to get 4 mosquito bites just going to the laundry room last night. I realized right about then that it's probably going to be a miserable summer. We are forecasted to continue getting rain for the next few weeks, which is nearly a miracle in Texas. But, I expect all this rain to get us a huge increase in the mosquito population too. I hope this has occurred to city government too. I really hate having to put bug spray on to do laundry.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Friday:-Enjoy What Not To Wear marathon-Tidy up-Devour Chipotle with Josh-Play Sims 2-Bake biscuits for strawberry shortcake-Prep stuff for Blue River trip-Hang out with Matt, Josh, and Grey-Watch Most Haunted-Finish prepping stuff for trip-Crash

Saturday:-Pack everything up for trip-Watch recorded Mind Your Manners-Try to get Josh moving-Hit the road, cruising to The Beach Boys-Worry about the constant rain-Arrive at camp site and save Pop-In-Law from pathetic freezer-burned hot dog lunch with sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches-Wildflower Hike-Watch butterflies-Walk to river and cool feet-Make and enjoy dinner-Walk up to river and enjoy cool water while Pop-In-Law fishes a bit-Back to camp for strawberry shortcake-Watch fireflies all around-Pack up and head home-Arrive home and immediately wash all bug spray off-Crash

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Okay, as predicted it is taking me longer than a week to get to all my diva movies. Last night I watched All About Eve, which is one of my new favorite classics. If you haven't seen this movie do yourself a favor. Get a copy, and pay close attention, cause you don't want to miss any of the clever plot, witty banter, or fabulous performances. I absolutely adore Bette Davis in this, her character at times being the complete definition of what most people think a diva to be. But don't take my word for it, All About Eve was voted the 21st Greatest Movie of all time by Entertainment Weekly. The movie has three quotes on Premiere's list of 100 Greatest Movie Lines, and the infamous line "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!" was voted as the #9 movie quote by the American Film Institute.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

We've decided that we're going to go to Blue River in Oklahoma on Saturday. Josh's dad is going up early Saturday and staying the night. We'll be driving up early Saturday too, but driving back that evening. Josh has band practice Sunday and doesn't want to deal with having to drive back that morning too. Anyway, I'm very excited! We went to Blue River for my first camping trip in November to enjoy the meteor shower and I had a great time, despite it being in the 30's that night. This time it will be hot, and I can sit in the sun. I need to take a book to read. I still haven't finished my Al Franken book, stopping 3/4 of the way through, as is habit with almost every book I read. But I don't really want to read that on a lazy summer day. Not sure what to take instead though. And maybe I can take along the dominoes, cards, and dice for some leisurely afternoon games. I'm going to make sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch with some chips & salsa on the side, perhaps even some guacamole. The Dad-In-Law will of course catch some fish to fry up for dinner. To accompany dinner I'm going to do grilled potatoes, grilled corn on the cob, and if John has any squash from the garden we'll either grill or fry that up too. Josh has spoken and so the dessert will be strawberry shortcake, and I'll bake some cookies to snack on during the day too. And then lots of beer. Mmmm, beer.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Okay, this weekend was so ridiculously crazy that I just can't do a roundup. You'll just have to take my word for it that I really, really needed the 13 or so hours of sleep that I've just woken from.

And it seems like we might have hit our first triple digit temps this weekend, although that giant sign and our car display could have been wrong, I guess. Either way, summer has announced it's intentions. It intends to roast me alive.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Last night I watched The Devil Wears Prada for the first time. I quite liked it. Honestly I was watching it because I got my hair cut a few weeks ago based on a pic of Anne Hathaway from the movie. Figured I should maybe watch the movie in appreciation for the inspiration. As the movie was finishing I got the idea that I should do a week of movies with divas in them. I'm using the term diva somewhat loosely- think not just dramatic women, but strong women, stylish women, opinionated women, clever women. I've been trying to boost my image and my self-image lately, and I think some influence could be helpful. I've got a few other movies in mind right off the bat, but to be honest a lot of them are classics. Does anyone have a more modern day diva movie they might suggest? We'll see just how long my 'week' takes too- I'm simultaneously busy and lazy. Perhaps there's a movie to motivate me too.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Josh and I were pretty excited about dinner last night. On our last Chipotle Friday, May 25th, we received a flyer informing us if we came by on June 5th with a non-perishable food item we would receive a free burrito, bol, salad, or tacos. Incredibly excited at the idea, we forwent our ritual this past Friday so as to take advantage of the offer this week. Well, so did everyone else in our neighborhood. The line as we pulled around the corner snaked through the dining area, out the patio door, and into the parking lot. Easily a 45 minute wait. We abandoned Plan A, and Plan B became Sonic. I will have to find another way to donate my peas, corn, and green beans to the Food Bank. So now, we will be bursting at the seams with Chipotle desire when Friday rolls around this week. And now I have learned my lesson- to not plan my weekly menu around the prospect of free food.

Saturday:-Enjoy my coffee (see earlier post)-Sign for delivery of new headboard-Plan upcoming week's menu-Grocery shop-Clean kitchen-Vacuum-Shower-Welcome Diggy & visit while waiting for Josh-Dine on delicious garlic shredded beef tacos, chips, queso, guacamole, and a schooner of Blue Moon at Fuzzy's-Say goodbye to Diggy as he heads back to his parents house, and Josh as he heads off to show in Ennis-Watch dvr'd episodes of Most Haunted while organizing household paperwork and entering 2007 bank statements in new money program-Create spreadsheet to track grocery expenses-Move giant headboard box so I can fall asleep watching Sleepless In Seattle

Sunday--Sleep far too late-Decide what to make for round 2 of Browniebabe of the Month-Order pizza-Gorge on said pizza-Continue watching Most Haunted-Run to grocery store for brownie supplies-Make brownies while Josh and Matt watch dvr'd Simpsons episodes-Say adios to Matt-Finally finish movie I started previous Sunday-Watch Ghost Hunters while finishing Browniebabe entry-Drift off to sleep with the help of Tylenol PM